Thursday, November 13, 2008

Unknowingly Letting Them In

Last night I was on the phone with my good friend Debby, who now lives in California. While I was talking with her, Garry handed me the laptop. He had been looking at a sex offender list, checking out our neighborhood, and there was a familiar face. A very familiar face. I taught a girl piano for over three years -- it was her Dad and he had a conviction for child pornography.

I liked her Dad. He brought his daughter nearly every week. He was always punctual. He was always nice and very supportive of his daughter's efforts. However, their paying schedule was erratic and so when they took the summer off, I told them in the fall that I no longer had any openings.

I teach piano on the first floor of my home. My girls stay on the second and third level and my students are never allowed upstairs. In that way, there is a layer of protection and privacy. But how do you protect your kids when the ones you should be on the look out for appear to be gracious, kind, perfect fathers?

2 comments:

Sylvia said...

I guess that's where the saying "a wolf in sheep's clothes" comes from. Outward apperances are often very misleading.

Tina said...

Pretty scary!